1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a door driving control apparatus for controlling, in a train or the like, the opening/closure driving of a vehicle door that is opened and closed by a motor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In automatic opening/closing doors for getting passengers on/off of trains, automobiles, etc., from the viewpoint of power saving, protection from burning of door driving motors, and prevention of erroneous operation during running, usually each door is driven by supplying electric power to a door driving motor only in opening or closing it and in other situations (the door is closed) the door is locked mechanically by means of a locking device such as a lock pin and no electric power is supplied to the door driving motor.
FIG. 6 shows the configuration of a conventional door driving control apparatus for a railway vehicle. The door driving control apparatus 10 is equipped with an operation instruction computing section 11, a power conversion section 12, and a communication interface 14 and is connected to a power source 21, a linear motor 2, a position detector 5 which are provided on a vehicle body 20 and a train control apparatus 22 provided in a motorman's cab.
Linear motor 2, a movable portion of which is connected to a link portion 3 provided on a door 1, opening/closure-drives the door 1. The door 1 is provided with a locking device 7 for fixing the door 1 mechanically. The position detector 5 detects a position and a speed of the movable portion of the linear motor 2 and outputs a thus-acquired door position detection value S1 to the operation instruction computing section 11.
Among three phase lines (having U, V, and W phases) which connect the power conversion section 12 to the linear motor 2, output current detectors 4 are connected to the U-phase and W-phase lines, respectively. Output current detection values S2 obtained by detecting a U-phase current and a W-phase current with the output current detectors 4 are input to the operation instruction computing section 11.
With the above configuration, when receiving a door operation instruction signal S3 from the train control apparatus 22, the operation instruction computing section 11 performs door speed feedback control using the door position detection value Si and the output current detection values S2. The power conversion section 12 converts the power from the power source 21 according to this control. The linear motor 2 is supplied with converted power and its driving is thereby controlled. The door 1 is opening/closure-driven as a result of this driving of the linear motor 2.
Door driving control apparatus 10 for controlling the opening and closing of the door 1 is provided for each door (e.g., each of first to eighth doors) as indicated by reference symbols 10-1 to 10-8 in FIG. 7 and is connected to the train control apparatus 22 via the communication interface 14.
As exemplified in FIG. 8, door installation positions are discriminated from each other by setting addresses A1-A8 for the respective door positions in each car and storing the addresses A1-A8 in the respective door driving control apparatus 10-1 to 10-8.
In automatic opening/closing doors for trains, automobiles, etc., when a high pressure is exerted on the door 1 by passengers in a fully jammed car, for example, and the friction of the door 1 is thereby made unduly high or a foreign object is pinched by the door 1, correct operation of the door 1 is secured by increasing the driving force for the door 1, opening and closing the door again (i.e., temporarily opening the door 1 being closed and starting a closing operation again after a lapse of a prescribed time with an assumption that a passenger, a bag, or the like has escaped or has been removed) after increasing the driving force for a prescribed time, or performing a like operation. However, when foreign objects are pinched by plural doors 1, the driving force is increased for all of those doors 1 and hence the total power consumption becomes large.
As shown in FIG. 9, usually the plural door driving control apparatus 10-1 to 10-8 of a car are connected to the power source 21 which is provided for the same vehicle body as the door driving control apparatus 10-1 to 10-8 are provided on, and other apparatus such as an air conditioner 31 and an inverter apparatus for fluorescent lamps are also connected to the power source 21. Therefore, if the total power consumption becomes large as a result of an increase in the door driving force for plural doors, the voltage of the power source 21 decreases, which may adversely affect the operation of other apparatus in the same car as exemplified by flickering of fluorescent lamps.
Exemplary countermeasures against the above problem are disclosed in JP-A-2005-145240 and JP-A-2005-73381. In JP-A-2005-145240, the fact that high torque is being output for one or some of the doors of the same power supply system is communicated between the door driving control apparatus 10-1 to 10-8 via the communication interfaces 14 over the inter-car network. Each door driving control apparatus outputs low torque while high torque is being output for another or other doors. In this manner, adjustments are made so that the power consumption of the entire car does not become unduly large.
In JP-A-2005-73381, each of the door driving control apparatus 10-1 to 10-8 restrict output torque in accordance with its input voltage or input current. In this manner, adjustments are made so that the power consumption of the entire car does not become unduly large.
However, the information that can be communicated over the inter-car network depends on the vehicle type. Therefore, information as to whether high torque is being output may not be available in certain vehicle types, in which case the technique of JP-A-2005-145240 cannot be utilized.
In the technique of JP-A-2005-73381, when an attempt is made to output high torque for all doors, the power supply voltage is lowered and the output torque is thereby restricted. This results in a problem that with restricted output torque the doors may not be operated or locked.